"I am my own guardian."
My writing coach April yesterday said the most extraordinary sentence:
“We borrow ourselves from the whole and in death, we give ourselves back.”
The idea that we may just be borrowing ourselves, borrowing our lives, really touched me. Borrowing is something that we do for things that we need, that are helpful, or that are beautiful and coveted.
These are things I have borrowed that brought me lots of joy and help:
My friend Leslie lent me her gorgeous aquamarine dress for a wedding.
I borrowed the book Circe from the library.
My neighbour Roster let me use his gardening tools which are way better than mine and made my work much easier.
We take good care of what we borrow, and give it back in a timely matter in good faith and in good shape. We treat it like it is a precious object. We are responsible for it while it is in our care. We are the guardian of it.
Guardianship entails protection, responsibility, care, and supervision, even custody.
This idea resonates strongly with me, that we borrow ourselves from the infinite, where we will return one day. So we are for now under our own guardianship. It highlights for me the importance of self care, of ensuring that we do all that we can so that we are safe, cared for, healthy, loved. We aim to be solid, trustworthy, generous, fierce, patient, and loving guardians. Under our watch, some things or people are just not acceptable, and we stand up to stop them, to heal them, to transform them.
Furthermore, when we are lent something, we are grateful that it is provided to us free of charge, purely out of benevolence. (because really there’s nothing more benevolent than another person sharing their property with you, or a library – millions of books on every topic available for free! Libraries make me so happy).
We can choose to feel gratitude for this life that we have been lent, for this opportunity to learn, to grow, to share, to restore this planet, to be in the presence of loved ones. It is so glorious if you really stop to think about it.
My self talk:
I am my own guardian.
I am under my own guardianship.
I take good care of myself.
I stand up fiercely to protect myself.
I belong to the infinite collective.
Thank you for reading.
With love,
Maryse
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